Page 62 of The Villain

Jace sank down onto the weight bench, our knees almost touching, and he fiddled with the gloves in his hands. “How do we know we can trust him?”

I don’t like the dark.

You’re not alone.

“You’re going to have to trustme.”

“And you do?” His head came up, and the naked concern on his face made him look like the teenager I remembered. “You trust him?”

“Yes. I never meant to feel anything for him. I was supposed to hate him. That’s it. But… I don’t.”

Jace gnawed his lower lip. “So he’s going to… what? Be your boyfriend?”

I didn’t like that term—boyfriend. It was too casual. But whatever.

“Sure.”

He scowled. “You can’t make me be nice to him.”

I huffed a laugh that sent pain screaming down my arm. “I wouldn’t dare.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I was in denial.” And that was the truth. “Then I got shot, and Devlin saved my life. I couldn’t deny it anymore.”

“So what happened? At the warehouse?”

I explained everything. How I’d opened the door to a masked man with a gun, how Devlin had dragged me into the crawlspace, how he’d held my hand in the dark.

I rubbed my palms together as I stared at the floor. “I was scared. Vulnerable. I thought I was going to die. What he didfor me in the dark…” I lifted my head to find Jace watching me carefully. “I’ll never forget it.”

I reached out and grasped the back of Jace’s neck. Sweat dripped from his hair onto my skin. “I don’t expect you to understand or accept it. I just need you to support me.”

His spine stiffened. “I always support you.”

“I know. And I’m asking you to keep doing it.”

He poked at a hole in his shorts, and his knee knocked against mine. “You’ve barely talked to me since you brought him here.”

And there it was.

I should have recognized it from the jump. Jace was used to my individual attention. I didn’t date and had never wanted to. I had a crew to run, friends to spend time with, and big brother duties to attend to. Jace might have been twenty-three, but his trauma came from a childhood of severe neglect. I knew he’d carry it with him for the rest of his life. He was used to having Rhys and me at his beck and call. But I’d been so preoccupied with Devlin that I’d barely been around Jace unless I was lecturing him.

I sighed. “You’re right. And I’m sorry about that. I’ll make more time, okay?”

“No. I’m not—” He winced, probably cutting himself off so he didn’t seem dependent on us. “You need to heal, Cian. You don’t need to worry about me. I was just saying...” His voice trailed off.

“AndI’mjust saying I’ll make time for you. Maybe after I feel a little less like I got shot in the neck two days ago.”

He didn’t smile at that. In fact, it only seemed to fuel his distress. “That’s not fucking funny,” he snapped

“Hey.” I jostled him gently. “Look at me.”

When his honey eyes met mine, I said the words I didn’t say often enough. “I love you, brother.”

His lashes fluttered as he sucked in a deep breath, then let it out. “Yeah. Love you too.”

I leaned back and dropped my hand from his neck. “So. What have I missed?”